Soham Nitin Panchamiya

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

Soham Nitin Panchamiya, a solicitor at Reed Smith, falsely told his firm he had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing treatment, and later provided a falsified/forged medical report to support the claim. He admitted all allegations including dishonesty. The Tribunal found the dishonesty deliberate, repeated and serious, and rejected the argument that exceptional circumstances (his mental health and personal difficulties) applied. He was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of £22,000 (reduced from the £32,130 claimed).

Duties found breached:

• Comply with rules of foreign jurisdictions
• Honesty
• Integrity

Aggravating factors:

• Deliberate, calculated and repeated dishonesty over an extended period (22 September to 13 November 2023)
• Multiple dishonest acts compounding the initial lie
• Falsification of a medical report/forgery of a doctor's signature
• Numerous opportunities to correct the false impression but failed to do so until confronted
• Abuse of trust placed in him by the Firm

Mitigating factors:

• Early and full admissions maintained throughout
• Genuine remorse and insight
• Difficult personal circumstances (death of father, family debt, financial pressure)
• Mental health issues/unresolved grief accepted clinically
• No client harm, no personal financial gain, no misleading of any court